Large group of teenagers fighting in downtown Baltimore

A large group of teenagers were involved in a fight near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore on Monday afternoon, with several of the teens taken into custody, police said.

One police officer was injured responding to the brawl when she fell after chasing one of the teenagers, scraping her legs and knees on the ground, Baltimore Police spokesman Detective Vernon Davis said.

Witnesses said dozens of teens were involved in the fight, which started about 3:15 p.m. on the plaza in front of the Gallery on Pratt Street.

One witness, a security guard, said the fight centered on two female teenagers, one of whom had her shirt torn off during the fight. A police officer who saw the brawl said he saw a teen pick up a trash can and throw it at someone. Both declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

As police came to break up the fight shortly after it began, the teenagers ran off in different directions.

At about 3:30 p.m., Baltimore police cars filled at least three streets east of Light Street. A helicopter hovered overhead, and Maryland State Police cars soon arrived to assist, as well.

On Baltimore Street, just up from Grant Street, five male teens were detained by about six police officers. The youths were forced to sit against a wall on the sidewalk for several minutes until police let four of them go. They questioned one of them for a few minutes and released him, too.

Large fights between teenagers in the heart of the city's business district have drawn negative attention and various redeployment strategies in the past. In one incident last year, hundreds of teens converged on downtown the night of St. Patrick's Day, with multiple brawls that ended in two stabbings and the beating of a tourist from Northern Virginia.